At the September Minnesota Atheists meeting with PZ Myers, a classic issue came up in the question-and-answer session: Atheism only defines what we do not believe rather that what we do believe. I argued that many people are proud to be independent, not dependent, even though this also defines only what they are not. Similarly, the Declaration of Independence is primarily a negation of dependence on Britain, but it is not viewed as a pejorative document, at least not because of its title.

The room was packed for September’s Minnesota Atheists meeting at the Roseville Public Library. The meeting featured PZ Myers, an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Minnesota, Morris, who has become well known in the atheist community through his Pharyngula blog at Freethought Blogs. He has recently released a book titled The Happy Atheist.

Wisconsin’s state constitution provides excellent protection for the separation of church and state, defining it more clearly than the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Since the state legislature is now firmly in thrall to the religious right, however, both houses have taken up a constitutional amendment to eviscerate that protection.

The October meeting of Minnesota Atheists will feature James Zimmerman discussing his new book Deliverance at Hand! Much of Zimmerman's book takes place in Apple Valley which is partly why we selected this location.

James is a member of the Minnesota Atheists Editorial Board and a former editor of The Minnesota Atheist newsletter.He is a frequent host and guest of the Atheists Talk television show. His writing has appeared in The Minnesota Atheist, The Humanist, Free Inquiry, and American Atheist. His essay “Losing My Head” appears in the book Atheist Voices of Minnesota, which he helped edit.

Chuck Hall says he has been debating fundamentalist Christians for over forty years. Playing Chess with Pigeons certainly contains the largest arsenal of anti-fundamentalist debating points you are likely to find anywhere.

Hall provides a long list of typical fundamentalist arguments, along with a detailed refutation for each one. He also introduces some more unusual debating points. He gives us a very long list of contradictions in the Bible, and notes that even this long list is only the beginning. And in one especially interesting section, Hall cites numerous passages from scripture to show that the writers of the Bible almost certainly conceived of the Earth as flat.